Double Trouble
by Elphaba-TheDefiant
Summary: Despite being known as the most punctual of all the ARC members, Jess is late. An hour late in fact,. Of course, Becker grows increasingly worried. Rightly so! But not for the reason he quite expects...Prompt!fic for DrawnToDarkness!


Jess was late. That never happened. In fact, even when Becker came in two hours early, Jess was normally just settling at the ADD. So for her to be 45 minutes late? Well, almost everyone was worried. None more so than the Captain though.

He had been pacing for the better part of half an hour when Lester finally snapped. "Oh for the love of God. Captain, I officially order you to go and see what's taking Miss Parker so long before I have to take money out of the budget for a new floor."

Becker hesitated for a moment, not wanting to intrude in Jess' life, but who was he to disobey a direct order? Plus, he was worried. His mind had given him every scenario possible from merely sleeping in, to getting killed by some psychopath on the street. He gave a sharp nod and turned on his heels to leave the ARC, ignoring Connor and Abby's faint snickers from behind him.

He drove to Jess' flat like a complete madman with sharp hairpin turns and horrifyingly bad courtesy. Eventually he screeched to a halt outside the building and jogged up. Someone inside was approaching the door so he waited, caught it after it opened and headed up to Jess' flat, taking the stairs three at a time.

What he heard when he stood outside the door was what really worried him. Clatters, bangs and soft hisses of pain sent surges of panic through him so without wasting much time, he rapped smartly on the door, not wanting to break in just yet.

"Ow! Tali – get off of me, I need to answer the door!" Jess muttered from inside, making Becker frown. '_Tali? Who the hell was Tali?'_

After a few more moments of scrabbling, the door finally swung open to reveal a strange sight. Jess stood there, dressed in a pair of flannel pyjama pants and a bright red tank top, chocolate smeared across her face and a young, dark haired girl on her hip.

Becker was silent for a second before he choked out, "J-Jess?"

Jess blinked at him in equal confusion. "What are you doing here, Becker?" she asked, brow furrowed.

Becker pointedly ignored the urge to smooth out the lines where she frowned or the urge to wipe the chocolate from her face. "You're uh...you're an hour late for your shift." He finally managed to say.

Jess groaned. "I wasn't meant to work today!" she sighed.

Becker just nodded, not sure what to say. He glanced at the girl on her hip and frowned at the resemblance. "Jess...this girl..."

"Tali." Jess helpfully supplied.

"Yeah, Tali. Is she...yours?" he asked quietly, not sure he wanted to know the answer.

Jess looked at him, then at Tali, then back to him before she burst out laughing. "Becker, she's six. I'm 21. When I was 15, I was heading off to university. Like I have time for a kid. She's my niece. Her and her minx of a sister." Jess teased the young girl, making her giggle and squirm.

Becker let out a soft sigh of relief. "Okay. Are you coming in?"

"Uh...yeah, I'm going to need to. Come in and keep an eye on these two while I change?" She asked, already walking back in.

A little dazed, Becker followed her in, sitting on the couch and watching as Jess sat Tali down next to a blonde girl and murmured softly to them. "Okay you two, this is Becker – he's going to watch you while I change and then you can come see where I work."

The two girls nodded amiably and the blonde girl went back to watching the Lion King, singing along enthusiastically. Tali scowled at her sister and jumped up onto the couch next to Becker.

"Callie! What are you doing – come see Mister Becker instead!" Tali squealed happily, prodding Becker's shoulder curiously. Callie frowned and turned around, squishing herself into the gap between Becker and the arm of the chair.

"Hey, hey Mister Becker!" Tali said, still prodding his shoulder.

Becker turned to look at the hyperactive girl, raising an eyebrow questioningly.

"You look scary. Are you a soldier? I like soldiers. Well I like the ones on TV! Apart from some of the ones in that show Aunt Jess lets us watch because they shoot things a lot and Aunt Jess says the show tries to teach us that violence isn't good because the main guy is a man who never would use violence. " Tali asked, never pausing for breath. He wondered who she got that particular habit from (*_cough _Aunt Jess _cough*_).

"Yeah, I'm a soldier." Becker said slowly, not sure how to deal with a rambling six year old. Hell, he could barely deal with a rambling 21 year old!

"Oh, that's cool! Are you Aunt Jess's friend?" Tali asked brightly.

Callie shook her head quickly. "He's not her friend, Tali! Don't be stupid – he's her boyfriend!" The blonde girl said smugly.

"Oooh! Is Aunt Jess in loooooove?!" Tali exclaimed excitedly.

Becker groaned. Great, rambling, matchmaker six year olds.

A few seconds later, Jess breezed out, distinctly cleaner and dressed in a lovely ice blue dress with deep red heels. Tali and Callie ran at her, jumping up.

"Aunt Jess! Are you going out with the soldier man?!" Tali yelped as Callie nodded in assent.

Jess blinked. "What? No, we're just friends, you two. Now come on." She smiled warmly, taking their hands and looking up at Becker, unable to stop the faint flush on her cheeks.

Becker gave a small nod and stood up, leading the three girls down to the car.

/

After a few moments, they arrived back at the ARC and headed to the hub, Jess holding Tali on one hip and Callie on her back.

Many people had the same reaction as Becker- the puzzled looks, the splutters of confusion...it was almost all worth it.

As they entered the Hub, however, Lester came striding out, looking at his phone for a moment or two. "Miss Parker, care to explain why you were so late?" Then he looked up and frowned.

"My nieces. Babysitting." Jess murmured, careful not to wake the sleeping Callie on her back.

"We're not babies." Tali muttered half heartedly.

"I know, sweetie." Jess replied softly, dropping a kiss to her dark hair.

Lester just sighed. "Don't let them run wild." He said, walking away with a shake of his head.

Jess padded to the break room, letting Tali jump down before she gently lay Callie on the sofa, letting her sleep there as she led Tali back to the ADD.

"Aunt Jess, I'm bored." Tali murmured.

"Okay honey, I'll set up a game or something on one of the laptops?" Jess offered with a soft smile.

Tali nodded happily and sat up in a swivel chair, spinning around and giggling as Jess logged into a laptop and pulled up a game site for Tali. "There you go sweetheart." Jess grinned, ruffling the girl's hair affectionately.

Tali grinned and began to play easily.

/

A while later, Callie woke up and spotted Jess out of the glass windows. She yawned, brushed some blonde hair from her face and headed down to meet her aunt.

"Hey Aunt Jess?" Callie murmured.

Jess spun around. "Hey darling. What's up?"

"Where's Tali?" Callie yawned. Jess glanced at the place Tali had been sitting at not ten minutes ago and held back a stream of curse words.

"I'm not sure honey, she's wandered off. Shall we go find her?" Jess asked, lifting the sleepy blonde girl into her arms.

Jess headed down the corridor, her heels clicking sharply as she moved at a brisk pace – desperate to find Tali quickly, for her own sanity if nothing else.

Then she heard a voice she knew incredibly well and stopped in her tracks. Becker was in the armoury, which wasn't unusual. The unusual part was his tone – soft and reassuring with velvety undertones and even the occasional chuckle. It practically made her swoon in the corridor.

Then she wondered who he could be talking to and felt unbidden jealousy swell up...no. Finding Tali was her priority. She would just ask Becker if he had seen her.

Steeling herself, Jess swung the armoury door open and immediately felt her lips twitch into a soft smile. She pressed a finger to Callie's lips, telling her to shush as she watched for a second.

Becker sat at the table in the armoury with Tali on his lap, showing her how to disassemble a gun. Grinning, Jess sat Callie down and let her run to Tali.

Jess placed her hands on her hips and coughed. "Bit young for combat training, isn't she?" she teased, watching in satisfaction as Becker gave a sheepish smile.

"She came in here, looking for me." He explained, making Jess grin.

"She's taken to you. They both have." She smiled gently, chuckling slightly as both girls hastily nodded their agreements.

Becker had to admit, he had also warmed to the girls. He gave a conspiratorial smile and whispered to them, "Hey girls...you wanna see your Aunt Jess fire a gun?"

"Aunt Jess can shoot?!" Tali squealed excitedly as Callie jumped up and down.

"Ooh yeah! That sounds awesome!" Callie added brightly.

Jess flushed deeply and scowled faintly at him. "I hate you."

"No you don't." Becker laughed slightly, herding the two young girls to the firing range as he grabbed Jess' hand and pulled her along. Jess flushed deeply but let herself be dragged along.

"Alright girls, you stay behind this glass and I'll give your Aunt Jess a reminder on how to shoot." Becker said lightly, leading Jess into the range.

She kicked her heels off quickly and took the gun he offered her. She took a long, steadying breath as she adjusted her stance slightly and raised the gun, the way he had showed her before.

"Careful." He murmured, way too close for comfort. Jess nodded, her breath hitching slightly as she felt his hands grip her hips, gently turning them until she was a) in the right stance and b) pressed against him.

She stood stock still, constantly reminding herself that her nieces were watching so she really couldn't turn around and kiss Becker senseless even when he was sliding his hand down her leg to adjust her position slightly.

Soon he was satisfied that she was in the right stance and wrapped his arms around her, placing his hands over hers on the gun. "Nice and steady now. In three...two...one." He murmured into her ear. Jess shivered but pulled the trigger, the recoil pushing her back against his chest firmly.

Becker smiled down at her, setting the gun on the counter and leaning down to murmur in her ear. "Bullseye. Nice one." Jess shivered as his warm breath brushed her neck.

Callie nudged Tali. "They're so in love." She whispered lightly.

"I know!" Tali giggled before they ran in.

"That was awesome Aunt Jess!" They chorused, smiling innocently.

Jess smiled. "I'm glad you thought so." She grinned softly. "Will we head back to the Hub?"

Callie pouted. "But Aunt Jess..." she whined.

"What?" Jess asked with an amused smile.

"Can't we all stay here with Mister Becker?" Tali asked with a sweet smile.

Jess sighed, knowing she couldn't refuse those two anything. "Only if Becker doesn't mind." She conceded.

Becker shrugged. "Be nice to have some company."

/

A few hours later, Jess sat on the couch in the armoury cradling a sleeping Tali while Becker held a half asleep Callie in his. Callie yawned and prodded Becker's chest lightly. "Hey Mister Becker." She murmured sleepily.

"Mhm?" Becker asked softly.

"I can't wait til you marry Aunt Jess and then I'll have cousins." Callie hummed before slipping off into a deep sleep.

Becker glanced up in time to see Jess duck her head, no doubt to hide the fierce blush he knew would be there. Becker took a breath and stood, carefully laying Callie back down. Jess looked up as he beckoned her over. Jess laid Tali down and approached.

"Look, about what Callie said – she was half asleep. And once they get an idea into their head, that's it. Please don't feel awkward or anything cause it's not like I'm throwing myself at you, I mean, I try not to do that cause it would freak you out and I just don't want you to feel-" Jess didn't get to finish her sentence.

Instead, Becker had leant down to press his lips to hers, cutting her off quite spectacularly. Jess gasped softly under his lips, stretching up so he didn't have to bend so much. Becker smirked slightly into the kiss before lifting Jess off her feet, revelling in the soft noise of surprise that it elicited from her. They only pulled away when their lungs started to scream in protest.

"Jess?" Becker murmured slowly, almost hesitantly.

"Yeah?" Jess replied, her voice light and languid.

"I think I'm fine with being their uncle." He teased softly, pressing a light kiss to the tip of her nose.


End file.
